Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1997 Sep;87(9):1467–1471. doi: 10.2105/ajph.87.9.1467

Risk for neural tube defect-affected pregnancies among women of Mexican descent and white women in California.

G M Shaw 1, E M Velie 1, C R Wasserman 1
PMCID: PMC1380971  PMID: 9314798

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated a previously reported 50% or more increased risk for neural tube defect-affected pregnancies among Latina women compared with White women. METHODS: Data were derived from a population-based case-control study of fetuses and live-born infants with neural tube defects in a 1989-through-1991 California birth cohort. Interviews were conducted with mothers of 538 (88% of eligible) infants/fetuses with neural tube defects and mothers of 539 (88%) nonmalformed control infants. RESULTS: The risk for a neural tube defect-affected pregnancy was approximately twice as high among women of Mexican descent than among White women (odds ratio = 1.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.5, 2.8). The odds ratio for Mexico-born Mexican women compared with White women was 2.4 (95% CI = 1.7, 3.2), whereas the risk for US-born women of Mexican and other racial/ethnic descent was not substantially higher than that for Whites. The higher risk among Mexico-born Mexican women was not attributable to differences in numerous studied parental characteristics and exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Given that nearly 20% of all California births are to Mexico-born Mexican women, the increased risks observed are relevant to the population burden of neural tube defects.

Full text

PDF
1467

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Block G., Hartman A. M., Dresser C. M., Carroll M. D., Gannon J., Gardner L. A data-based approach to diet questionnaire design and testing. Am J Epidemiol. 1986 Sep;124(3):453–469. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114416. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brender J. D., Carmichael L., Preece M. J., Larimer G. C., Suarez L. Epidemiology of anencephaly in Texas, 1981-1986. Tex Med. 1989 Jul;85(7):33–35. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Canfield M. A., Annegers J. F., Brender J. D., Cooper S. P., Greenberg F. Hispanic origin and neural tube defects in Houston/Harris County, Texas. I. Descriptive epidemiology. Am J Epidemiol. 1996 Jan 1;143(1):1–11. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a008647. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Canfield M. A., Annegers J. F., Brender J. D., Cooper S. P., Greenberg F. Hispanic origin and neural tube defects in Houston/Harris County, Texas. II. Risk factors. Am J Epidemiol. 1996 Jan 1;143(1):12–24. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a008653. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chávez G. F., Cordero J. F., Becerra J. E. Leading major congenital malformations among minority groups in the United States, 1981-1986. MMWR CDC Surveill Summ. 1988 Jul;37(3):17–24. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Croen L. A., Shaw G. M., Jensvold N. G., Harris J. A. Birth defects monitoring in California: a resource for epidemiological research. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 1991 Oct;5(4):423–427. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3016.1991.tb00728.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Feldman J. G., Stein S. C., Klein R. J., Kohl S., Casey G. The prevalence of neural tube defects among ethnic groups in Brooklyn, New York. J Chronic Dis. 1982;35(1):53–60. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(82)90029-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Guendelman S., Abrams B. Dietary intake among Mexican-American women: generational differences and a comparison with white non-Hispanic women. Am J Public Health. 1995 Jan;85(1):20–25. doi: 10.2105/ajph.85.1.20. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Haffner S. M., Knapp J. A., Hazuda H. P., Stern M. P., Young E. A. Dietary intakes of macronutrients among Mexican Americans and Anglo Americans: the San Antonio heart study. Am J Clin Nutr. 1985 Dec;42(6):1266–1275. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/42.6.1266. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kasl S. V., Berkman L. Health consequences of the experience of migration. Annu Rev Public Health. 1983;4:69–90. doi: 10.1146/annurev.pu.04.050183.000441. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Katz E. A., Shaw G. M., Schaffer D. M. Exposure assessment in epidemiologic studies of birth defects by industrial hygiene review of maternal interviews. Am J Ind Med. 1994 Jul;26(1):1–11. doi: 10.1002/ajim.4700260102. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Knapp J. A., Haffner S. M., Young E. A., Hazuda H. P., Gardner L., Stern M. P. Dietary intakes of essential nutrients among Mexican-Americans and Anglo-Americans: the San Antonio Heart Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 1985 Aug;42(2):307–316. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/42.2.307. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Scribner R., Dwyer J. H. Acculturation and low birthweight among Latinos in the Hispanic HANES. Am J Public Health. 1989 Sep;79(9):1263–1267. doi: 10.2105/ajph.79.9.1263. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Shaw G. M., Jensvold N. G., Wasserman C. R., Lammer E. J. Epidemiologic characteristics of phenotypically distinct neural tube defects among 0.7 million California births, 1983-1987. Teratology. 1994 Feb;49(2):143–149. doi: 10.1002/tera.1420490210. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Shaw G. M., Schaffer D., Velie E. M., Morland K., Harris J. A. Periconceptional vitamin use, dietary folate, and the occurrence of neural tube defects. Epidemiology. 1995 May;6(3):219–226. doi: 10.1097/00001648-199505000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Strassburg M. A., Greenland S., Portigal L. D., Sever L. E. A population-based case-control study of anencephalus and spina bifida in a low-risk area. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1983 Oct;25(5):632–641. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.1983.tb13823.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES